Freeze proof faucets help backyard sauna enthusiasts chill out all winter long

In Northern climates, late fall is a busy time of year.

Squirrels are as active as beer distributors, shifting from Octoberfest to Winter Ale. Homeowners are doing their winter prep: leaf raking, the final grass cut, snow blower tuning, and putting away the garden hose for pending winter.

We sauna enthusiasts are getting ready for winter too.

Our woodpiles are packed solid. Our skis and ice skates are ready to go. For those of us with our own backyard sauna retreats, we are transitioning from our outdoor showers to the 5 gallon water bucket. But we don’t need to shut down our outdoor garden faucets. We can fill up our 5 gallon water buckets right under the outdoor faucet all winter long thanks too…. freeze proof faucets.

Freeze proof faucets are the bomb.

The shut off is a foot upstream, inside your house. Freeze proof faucets are easy to install. They work all winter long. One of life’s simple pleasures if filling a 5 gallon water bucket in zero degree weather wearing only a towel between sauna rounds.

We can say goodbye to our outdoor showers for the winter, and Wim Hof would be proud of our ability to dump cold water over our heads outside, all winter long.

Here’s some easy instructions on how to install your own freeze proof faucet. Click here.

Comments

i have a showerhead hooked up at my sauna but need to run about 80′ of hose out to it. i coil it up after each use (to allow for lawn mowing, etc.). for the last couple seasons, i took the hose inside once freezing temps hit and relied on a bucket for water. this year, i’ve been draining/coiling the hose up after use and bringing inside to prevent freezing. then i roll it out when i want to use it, even in freezing temps. it can get as low as about 25 degrees before stuff starts freezing up while in the hot room. i’ll keep doing this until the snow gets too deep or the daily highs start staying below 25 and then it is bucket time until spring. i should be able to rock this method for another couple weeks.

It took me 45 minutes to install my frost free faucet. With a pipe wrench, I unscrewed the existing pipe in the basement, right at the shut off nozzle and brought the whole piece to Home Depot. There I was able to size up the exact length of frost free faucet to buy. Drove home, pipe taped the threads, screwed it on, et voila !